Time for family precious

Lowe welcomes PRCA event near home

SILVERTON - It will be difficult for Will Lowe to go to work Wednesday.

The three-time bareback world champion has 14-month-old son Garrett at home near Canyon, and the travel required to make a living on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit keeps him away from his family's newest addition.

"It makes it tougher to leave," Lowe said of Garrett and his wife, Tiffani. "But it makes it a lot better when you're home."

Which is why Lowe, 27, was happy Saturday night after the final performance of the Silverton Buck Wild Days Rodeo at Silverton's Wood Memorial Arena.

Last year, Lowe would have been in places such as Utah, Colorado or Montana trying to earn every penny possible to guarantee a ninth consecutive appearance in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

But this year, Silverton's 118th rodeo was sanctioned by the PRCA for the first time, giving Lowe plenty of reasons to stay close to home.

Lowe scored an 85 on Saturday, good enough for second behind traveling partner Wes Stevenson of Lubbock, who scored an 88, in the rodeo's final performance.

"You don't have to leave until 5:30 (p.m.) to get over here," Lowe said of having a PRCA event about 60 miles from home. "It makes the work day a lot shorter."

Lowe said he is happy Silverton's annual rodeo is PRCA-sanctioned now. It had been a Texas Cowboys Rodeo Association event in previous years, earning TCRA Rodeo of the Year in 2007 and 2008 and being named the association's richest rodeo last year.

Lowe, among the area's high-profile cowboys, offered his help in the process.

"I answered questions that they had, like when would be a good time to hold the rodeo and things like that," Lowe said. "They wanted someone else's input, and I was happy to help with whatever they needed."

Lowe entered the rodeo sixth in the PRCA world standings with $63,694 and added $997.50 on Saturday. The top 15 in earnings Sept. 25 qualify for the NFR, which begins Dec. 2 in Las Vegas. Lowe is about $20,000 ahead of 16th-ranked Dusty LaValley of Bezanson, Alberta.

In his continuing effort to punch a ticket back to Las Vegas, where he won the bareback average title in 2007, Lowe will fly more than 1,300 miles Wednesday to Caldwell, Idaho, for the Caldwell Night Rodeo.

For now, though, he gets to spend precious time with Garrett and Tiffani before hitting the road again in search of his first world title since 2006, when he set an overall bareback earnings record $280,227 and a bareback NFR earnings record $128,302.

"You dang sure want to be feeling good right now," Lowe said. "Now is when you really want to be peaking. And I'm feeling real good right now."